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Mass media have relatively direct, immediate and substantial effects on attitudes and behavior.

Direct effects model

What does the direct effects model assume? What doubts are there?

Assumes a passive or defenseless audience. People hold this view b/c powerful effects are influenced greatly by the media. Doubts: studies of voting behavior and of public information campaigns.

Mass communication ordinarily does not serve as a necessary and suficient cause of audience effects. It reinforces existing attitudes and behavior.

Limited Effects Model

Two-step flow of communications

Mass media communicate to opinion leaders, opinion leaders communicate to the public. ex: doctors and new drugs or medical technology. Medical journals are read by small % of people who communicate it to the rest of the doctors.

What are the uses of the gratifications approach? (hint: there are 7 of them)

1. social and psychological origins 2. needs, which generate 3. expectations of 4. the mass media or other sourcs, which lead to 5. differential patterns of media exposure (or engagement in other activities), resulting in 6. need gratifications and 7. other consequences, perhaps mostly unintended ones.

Mass media influence not what people think but rather what they think about. (media reminds us)

Agenda-setting theory

The degree to which a social or political issue is perceived as important.

Salience

By attending to some issues and not other, the media affect the standards by which political leaders are judged.

Corollary

Distribution of attention given to various issues by the media will match public rankings of the importance of those issues.

Hierarchy approach

The distribution of attention given to a single issue over time will match public rankings of the importance of that issue (with a slight lag).

Longitudinal approach

When the television view of an issue conflicts with social reality. Heavy TV watchers will show greater acceptance of the TV view than light TV watchers.

Cultivation Hypothesis

What are the three aspects of the Mean World Syndrome?

high TV watchers will:
1)overestimate the frequency of crime
2) are more personally fearful of crime
3) Support greater use of force by the police

Resonance

When cultivation effects are enhanced when the TV view corresponds to social reality.

Example: effect of TV watching on fear of crime is greatest in high crime areas of the city.

The differences among demographic subgroups will be reduced among heavy TV viewers.

Mainstreaming

What is the deliberate and hostile use of overt force by one individual, and agent, against another individual, a victim.

Interpersonal Violence

What were the results of the National Television Violence Study?

7 violent acts per hour, Premium cable is substantially more likely to contian violence, while public TV is substantially less likely. Movies and Dramas are also more likely to contain violence. (comedies and reality-based programs are less likely)

Violence is exciting and increase physiological arousal, which can spill over and energize real aggressive behavior. (should be temporary)

Arousal

Each exposure produces progressively less arousal. Indifference to others' suffering may reduce restraints against aggressive behavior.

Desensitization

Media violence increases the availability of aggressive thought in the viewer, and increases the likelihood that some people will act on them.

Cognitive priming

Media portrayals contribute to the formation and maintenanace of agressive behavioral ...(blank)...These are organized knowledge about how to carry out certain activities.

Scripts

5 High risk composites of violence shown to children:

1)Perpetrator is primary character (good or mixed)
2)Violence is presented as justified
3)No immediate punishment
4)Result of violence is either no harm/pain or shorterm harm/pain
5)Violence can be fantasy oriented or realistic

What are the effects of pornography on aggression?

Violent-pornographic and the violent film produced mroe aggression against the feamle confederate than either the sexually explicit or the control firlm, which did not differ. (Violent porn causes most aggression, significant effect with nonviolent porn, neg. effect on just nudity)

Exposure to violent or nonviolent pornography, male viewers are more likely to: